CD11a, CD11c, and CD18 gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to Behçet's disease in Koreans.

Abstract

Lesions of Behcet's disease (BD) show vascular infiltrates of immune cells

expressing integrins. beta2 integrins (CD11/CD18) play a major role in cell

migration to the inflammatory lesion and also induce cytokine production. Thus,

genetic polymorphisms of CD11/CD18 may be associated with the pathogenesis of BD.

In this study, nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the CD11a, CD11c,

and CD18 were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment

length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and haplotype analysis in 305 BD patients and 266

healthy controls. The frequencies of genotype rs11574944 CC and haplotype

rs11574944C-rs2230433G-rs8058823A in CD11a were significantly lower in BD

patients. The frequencies of genotype rs2230429 CC, rs2929 GG, and haplotype

rs2230429C-rs2929G in CD11c were higher in BD patients. The frequencies of

genotype rs235326CC and haplotype rs2070946A-rs235326C-rs760456G-rs684G in CD18

were significantly higher in the BD patients than in the controls. Other SNPs in

CD11a, CD11c, and CD18 gene were not significantly different. Therefore, the

major genotype and haplotype of CD11a/CD18 may play a role in decreasing the

susceptibility of BD, whereas the major genotype and haplotype of CD11c/CD18 may

play a role in increasing the susceptibility of BD.